Surviving Trafficking: A Conversation With a Therapist and a Survivor

When: Thursday, September 26 - 1:00 PM

Duration: 2 hours

Location: Zoom

Event Details:

There are two types of human trafficking recognized by New York Law: labor trafficking and sex trafficking. Sex trafficking is when someone exploits another and advances the prostitution or profits from another by certain methods, including the use of threats, force, withholding the victim's important information, such as identification documents, making someone pay off a debt by engaging in prostitution, providing the victim with drugs or using trickery to get the victim into, or hold the victim, in prostitution and exploitation.

In 2016, New York State implemented a plan to focus on the main areas of trafficking. The plan included raising awareness, helping to identify victims, provide better services, and also included legislative and programmatic advocacy. It can be essential to educate people, train them to identify warning signs and understand how to assess a situation where trafficking has occurred. There were 2,137 confirmed individuals for human trafficking in New York State between 2007 and 2021.

Anyone can experience trafficking in any community, just as anyone can be the victim of any kind of crime. While trafficking does not discriminate, evidence suggests that generational trauma, historic oppression, discrimination, and other societal factors and inequities are risk factors. Traffickers are predators who recognize and take advantage of people who are at higher risk, which include those who may be experiencing housing insecurity, poverty, addiction, or have a history of experiencing abuse or unsafe situations from caregiver substance use or other situations.

In this event, CTAC’s Dr. Kara Dean-Assael will hold a conversation with Dr. David Crenshaw, a therapist, and Sophia*, a survivor of sex trafficking. Our goal is to help providers to understand the realities of sexual exploitation because stigma and shame may prevent a person from sharing their experience with sex trafficking. Creating a non-judgmental, trauma informed clinical space can invite the people you work with to share their trauma history and the ways that they have survived.

About the Presenters:

David A. Crenshaw, PhD, ABPP, RPT-S was the Chief of Clinical Services (Retired) at the Children’s Home of Poughkeepsie in Poughkeepsie, New York for 16 years. Dr. Crenshaw is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA), the APA Division of Child and Adolescent Psychology, and the American Academy of Clinical Psychology. He has taught play therapy at Johns Hopkins University and Columbia University, is a past president of the New York Association for Play Therapy, and supervised over 100 doctoral- and master’s-level interns over a 55-year career. Dr. Crenshaw is author or editor of 21 professional books, three books of poetry, and more than 100 articles and chapters on child and adolescent therapy, child trauma and abuse, resilience, play therapy, and family therapy. He has received lifetime achievement awards from the Hudson Valley Psychological Association, the New York Association for Play Therapy, and the United States Association for Play Therapy.

Sophia* is a survivor of sex trafficking experiences that occurred over ten years ago.  Looking for community and connection, she suddenly found herself at the hands of traffickers and around people who wanted to exploit her in a variety of ways. In the depths of despair, Sophia reached out to Dr Crenshaw (Dr. C) and others to help get her out of the situation she found herself in. Sophia has been on her own since the age of 15 and believes this contributed to her vulnerability to trafficking. Sophia is a courageous, spirited, and creative person, exemplified in writing beautiful, heartfelt poetry which has been one of the resources she has called upon for healing.  She is currently working in the human service field and is the mother of an amazing 2-year-old little boy, whom she works tirelessly for to ensure he feels love and safety at all times.

*Sophia is an alias to protect her anonymity.